Aseza Hele: 'You don't know how much you will miss that jersey'

Aseza Hele had a long wait between her 32nd and 33rd Test caps for the Springbok Women.

Before last weekend’s 55-12 win over the Fijiana XV in Suva, the last time the back-row wore a green and gold jersey was in the team’s quarter-final exit against the Black Ferns at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.

A hand injury that required surgery meant that Hele missed out on a chunk of the Pick n Pay Women’s Super League 1 campaign and the two Test series against the USA Women’s Eagles in July.

In her first international fixture in 11 months Hele was instantly back to her bulldozing and brilliant best. The 31-year-old carried the ball 16 times, made 126 metres, completed four offloads and eight tackles.

“You don’t know how much you will miss that jersey until it happens, but I just realised it again,” Hele said.

“To be back in the team made the rehab worth the while. The mental side of the rehab is always the toughest. Patience is often a virtue as sometimes rehab has it ups and downs and for me it is 90 per cent mental, 10 per cent physical.

“So I am very pleased that I could be back doing what I love, playing for my country and inspiring others.”

Of course a reintroduction to Test rugby is was no straightforward thing, although once the fixture got underway Hele admitted that she “felt really comfortable”.

Hele will hope that comfort can made way for nirvana this weekend when South Africa are hosted by Fiji at Churchill Park in Lautoka.

The side, who are being led by assistant coaches Laurian Johannes-Haupt and Franzel September in Fiji, will be without Lerato Makua and Eloise Webb this weekend after they picked up injuries. The team will be buoyed by the return of their captain, Babalwa Latsha.

Winners by a 43-point margin last time out, South Africa know that the Fijiana will be keen to hit back after such disappointment in front of home support.

“We know they will come back stronger,” Hele said. “But that is good for us too, as we respond well to pressure. We also gained confidence from our own performances and we saw our hard work being rewarded. We stuck to our system and the system rewarded us.”